


To Till the Earth

by The_Silent_Writer



Series: Herbs and Spices [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Established Relationship, Gardens & Gardening, Instruments of Torture, It's a baby pitchfork, M/M, That aren't really Instruments of Torture, smaugbo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 16:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1476928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Silent_Writer/pseuds/The_Silent_Writer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To put it simply: gardening is harder than it looks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Till the Earth

“Maybe I should have Gamgee over to clear up the garden?” Bilbo said to himself from where he sat on his bench in the front yard.

It was a late Sunday morning. The sun was at its highest point in the sky and kids could be heard playing through the Hills. The chirping of birds and insects mixed together to make the perfect summer ballad. All in all it was turning out to be a good day to just sit and bask in the sun.

“Do you doubt my gardening abilities?” A low, playful voice asked from high above Bilbo.

The hobbit turned to find Smaug laid out on the roof, sunning himself. It seemed Bilbo wasn’t the only one that thought this day was meant for lying about. “N-No, love. I never said I doubted your abilities. Though… I’ve never seen you garden before. In fact, you’ve never expressed an interest up until now.”

The dragon-man’s pointy, crimson ears had perked up at Bilbo’s pet-name, but immediately drooped when Bilbo made his case. “Just because I don’t express an interest for something, does not mean I cannot do it.”

Bilbo chuckled, hard to hide it when his dragon was having a pout on the grassy rooftop. “Alright then. Come down here and help me then, I can show you the ins and outs,” he offered.

“Oh no, no. I’m able to handle such a rudimentary task by myself, thank you.” Smaug stretched like a cat, long, snake-like tongue curling out and everything, before hopping down. He watched as his mate walked into the house and back out again with a plethora of little tools. “What are those?” he asked, skepticism in his voice.

“These are gardening tools. Surely, if you know how to garden, you know what these are.” Though he looked up innocently at Smaug, he was doing his best to keep a smirk off of his face.

Smaug looked a bit flustered after that. He snatched the tools from Bilbo’s arm and began to meticulously set them down in front of one of the many flower beds. “Of course I know what these are, thief,” he mumbled softly. “I was merely thinking you didn’t know what they were.”

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry, love.” The Halfling laughed this time, not trying to hide his mirth. He smiled at the name Smaug continued to call him. To others, it sounded like a debasement of character, but to the two of them, it ended up being a term of endearment. It _was_ how they met after all. “I’ll leave you to it then, shall I? If you’re going to spiffy up the outside, I’ll get to work on cleaning inside.” And with that, he left Smaug outside to tidy up the house.

For a while, the dragon-man simply looked at the tools he had placed on the ground. Each one looked queerer than the last, metal tines and curves coming out of small wooden posts. Smaug was sure these were meant for torture, not for a leisurely pastime. He selected a three-pronged instrument after some hesitation, this one looking like an over-sized version of the utensil Bilbo was constantly forcing him to use at meal times. Even with the larger version it was too small for his hands.

With a huff of agitation, he made his first attempt with the device. Its silver appendages only broke through a few centimeters before halting. He tried again, not making any progress. The ground refused him any leeway, making each attempt to sift through the dirt more frustrating than the last.

As his tries reached the double-digits, the dragon-man began to see red. Finally he had had enough. He threw the insufferable tool to the ground and opted to use his sharp talons to dig into the earth. He dug and dug, until all that was left was a large hole, dirt and the carcasses of plants and weeds alike strewn across the yard.

Smaug jerked around, still panting when he heard someone come up behind him. Immediately his angered expression softened when he saw his mate standing beside him. “I… Can explain this…”

Bilbo looked around the front yard in disbelief, and was trying so hard to contain the laughter that was bubbling up. “Oh, really? Please do, love. It looks to me like you thought we needed new plants entirely.” He smirked, able to look at Smaug face-to-face when the dragon-man was on his knees.

The dragon-man looked away, a bit ashamed at letting the hard ground get the better of him. He combed a hand through his curly hair, scratching the red horns coming from behind his temples. He hadn’t taken noticed that he was getting dirt in his hair. “Gardening… Is harder than it looks” he admitted.

The hobbit laughed, reaching forward and wiping stray pieces of earth from Smaug’s tangled mop. He traced the horns with small fingers, enjoying how they looked; a bit of black not yet gone from the past winter season. “I know. How about we clean this up and take a warm bath?” Bilbo offered, cupping the dragon-man’s face in his hands. “We can go looking for new plants later.”

Smaug perked up as his mate pet him. It was rare for Bilbo to ever be mad at the many mistakes he committed, and he was very glad for this. He nodded and leaned forward to touch his forehead with Bilbo’s.

They set to work with contented smiles on their faces, Bilbo contemplating on a variety of new plants to get for his garden and Smaug thinking about what they would do while they bathed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! This is my first 'one shot' EVER!! Well, I say one shot, but there will be some related posts >.>
> 
> Anyways! Thank you again and have a great day!
> 
> -bows-


End file.
